Celebrating 50 years of Hitchcock's Psycho

Celebrating 50 years of Hitchcock's Psycho

Alfred Hitchcock's seminal black and white thriller released in June 1960, and after suffering through Gus Van Sant's colourised but loyal remake of the same name not too long ago, we realise that even fifty years on, nothing compares to the original.

Psycho is one of the greatest, scariest, most intelligently constructed films of all time, and while you prepare to watch the masterpiece again -- and you should -- here are some things you might not have known about Hitch's most famous movie:

5. Top secret

Hitch's secrecy about the Psycho ending is absolute legend: on the first day of filming, the cast and crew had to raise their hands and pledge not to reveal any story details outside of the production.

And that wasn't it, the master director refusing to show even the cast the film's ending right up to the point when he needed to shoot it.

7. Famous words

And finally, here's a quote the inimitable director came up with during the film's publicity campaign: "It has been rumoured that Psycho is so terrifying that it will scare some people speechless. Some of my men hopefully sent their wives to a screening. The women emerged badly shaken, but still, vigorously, vocal."